1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to basketball backboards and, in particular, to a lighted backboard with an acrylic rebounding surface that is supported by and adhesively bonded directly to a molded plastic frame.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a great variety in basketball backboard designs and materials available today. Some of the various backboard designs include a rebounding surface that is supported by a rear frame, which may be composed of wood, metal, or plastic. Some designs include rebounding surfaces composed of glass or plastic that are supported by a frame surrounding the periphery of the rebounding surface.
As basketball and basketball apparatuses have become more popular, additional designs have become popular. Among the most popular designs are those that use plastic rebounding surfaces. Plastic rebounding surfaces provide greater flexibility of design, lighter weight, and easier construction; however, they typically must be supported by complex, heavier-duty frames to withstand the ordinary wear-and-tear to which basketball equipment is subjected. In addition, backboards that employ plastic or acrylic rebounding surfaces often suffer cracking and separation from the frame during ordinary use.
Many basketball backboards are produced using a moldable plastic material to construct the frame. Blow molding has become a popular method of producing basketball backboards and related parts of basketball goal assemblies because of its efficiency and flexibility in the molding process. Other processes such as injection, compression and roto-molding may provide similar results.
Molded plastic frames provide certain obvious advantages over steel and aluminum frames. For example, molded plastic frames are cheaper to produce, lighter in weight, and allow for more creative designs. In addition, plastic backboard frames can be molded in configurations that result in substantially fewer parts to assemble. Unfortunately, molded plastic frames are typically less structurally sound than their metal counterparts. Prior art backboards that employ molded plastic frames often suffer from structural problems such as cracking and separation of the rebound surface from the frame.
One existing backboard design solves some of the structural deficiencies of prior art molded plastic backboards by using a two-piece frame encapsulating a rebound surface. The frame is formed by separately moldable front and rear sections such that the rebound surface is supported between the frames, and the peripheral edge of the rebound surface is completely encapsulated. The rear frame member also may include an internal reinforcing structure integrally molded therewith to further enhance the strength and rigidity of the rear frame.
While the two-piece encapsulated backboard indeed produces a structurally sound backboard that prevents cracking of the rebound surface, it is always more desirable to produce a backboard of equal quality and durability while employing fewer parts. To that end, other existing backboard designs employ a one-piece molded plastic frame with a rebound surface mounted thereon. These designs tend still to suffer from cracking and separation of the rebound surface. The disadvantages of these one-piece designs usually result from inferior design of the supporting frame structure and inadequate attachment of the rebound surface to the backboard frame.
Another disadvantage associated with prior art one-piece molded plastic backboards, is that they generally do not allow for as much creativity of design as do multi-piece backboards. One-piece backboards must possess the structural strength of multi-piece backboards in order to function similarly. Therefore, their ornamental features are usually limited to decorating the rebounding and surrounding surfaces, such as with in-molded graphics on the rebounding surface. However, as basketball increases in popularity, there is a need for backboards with features such as lights which allow nighttime play. Multi-piece designs provide more flexibility for designers to employ decorative features within the backboard frame itself to give backboards more interesting three-dimensional qualities. But as stated above, multi-piece designs have their own disadvantages including increased cost and weight, and added complexity in manufacturing and assembly.
Therefore, there is a need for a lightweight, yet durable basketball backboard that exploits the advantages of molded plastic frames, particularly multi-piece molded plastic frames, in a one-piece backboard frame. The one-piece backboard frame would exploit such advantages as lighter weight and ease of manufacturing and assembly, while also providing for advantages heretofore associated only with multi-piece backboards, such as increased structural strength and greater flexibility in design. To accomplish this, a new process is needed to form a better backboard assembly by more strongly and efficiently assembling the frame and rebound surface, while still allowing for enough flexibility of design to add features such as lights.
The invention meets these needs and avoids the disadvantages and drawbacks of the above-described prior art by providing a basketball backboard preferably having a unitary molded plastic frame for supporting a rebound surface. The frame is formed of a single moldable piece that supports a rebound surface that is preferably an acrylic sheet. The rebounding surface is bonded directly to the frame in a manner that improves its ability to withstand the rigors of basketball play.
The frame may be formed through a blow molding process with the acrylic sheet rebound surface being bonded to the frame. Use of the blow molding process ensures that the frame has sufficient strength and rigidity to support the rebound surface and provides rebounding performance that matches or exceeds that of the highest quality metal and multi-piece plastic frame backboards. The frame may also include an internal reinforcing structure integrally molded therewith to further enhance the strength and rigidity of the rear frame.
The frame preferably has a raised peripheral edge extending about the periphery of the backboard frame such that the rebound surface is bonded to the frame around the periphery. The peripheral edge of the frame can be flame treated or corona treated and an adhesive material such as silicon applied thereto to bond the rebounding surface directly to the frame""s peripheral edge. Compression may then be used to facilitate the bonding process. By bonding the acrylic rebound surface to the peripheral edge of the frame, the rebound surface can be disposed such that its outer edge is inlaid within the periphery of the frame. Thus, the edges of the rebound surface are protected from the cracking problems that plague prior backboard designs where the rebound surface extends to the edge of the frame. Moreover, the need for a multi-piece frame for encapsulating the rebound surface edges is avoided.
When the peripheral edge of the frame is raised, with respect to the interior of the frame, and the acrylic sheet is bonded to the frame""s peripheral edge, a cavity may be formed behind the interior portion of the rebound surface. This interior cavity may be used for structural purposes to absorb and dampen forces imparted to the frame when balls and players strike the rebound surface. The interior cavity may also be used to add features to the backboard, such as illustrations or lights for evening use or decoration.
Preferably, the frame also includes a slotted structure particularly adapted to connect the backboard to a backboard support mechanism. Preferably, the slot receives the head of a mounting bolt for the backboard support mechanism. However, the slot may be formed as a keyhole slot, which has a predetermined extent less than the extent of the frame. Thus, the mounting bolts may rest on a ledge defining one end of the slot to facilitate assembly. The entire backboard assembly may be connected to a support pole that is part of a fixed, in-ground, basketball assembly, or part of a portable basketball assembly. Moreover, the backboard assembly may be secured to the pole through any of a wide variety of methods that allow for the backboard assembly to be in a fixed position with respect to the pole, or adjustable in height and position.
The invention thus provides new and significant advantages over the prior art. The molded plastic construction of the backboard frame enables the frame to be lightweight and durable without compromising strength or rigidity. The rebound surface is bonded to the frame such that there are no exposed edges, which can be susceptible to cracking. Because the backboard assembly is formed primarily from two separately moldable parts, assembly of the invention is quickly accomplished. Thus, the invention provides a lightweight backboard that is easier to manufacture and assemble than heretofore possible while maintaining or surpassing the performance of prior backboards.